Daily Picture 84 started 12-11-10

Gosh the other thread is long!!! Time for a new one and what a better way than to start off with my banner day!

We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1137149/

Work has kept me busy but I was able to get out to the NBC park today for a few hours. Got to see two Common Banners (a male and a female), a Guatemalan Cracker, a Pale-Spotted Leafwing, an Angled Leafwing, a Band Celled Sister, a Red Rim and the usual run of butterflies!!!

~ Cat

Common Banner (female)


This message was edited Dec 11, 2010 7:53 PM

Common Banner (male) - this was is worn - hard to get a photo - but hey, this male is a lifer for me!

We get to see maybe one Common Banner a year if at all...so being able to see a female and a male on the same day is awesome! They've been sticking around the NBC Park for a few days now.

~ Cat

This message was edited Dec 11, 2010 7:56 PM

Guatemalan Cracker - we get to see a few of these a year...always a pleasure!

~ Cat

Pale-Spotted Leafwing - this is a lifer for me!!! The topside is bluish purple - but it only opened its wing when it flew to another branch. You can still see a wee bit of color of the inner wings.

~ Cat

Angled Leafwing - another lifer for me!!! What a day it turned out to be!!!

~ Cat

Band-Celled Sister. We get a few of these each year - this one was really fresh!!!

~ Cat

A Silver-Banded Hairstreak - we see these throughout the year - it was nice to see a good half dozen of these little hairstreaks today.

~ Cat

I didn't photograph the Red Rim because it was really worn out. Must say the fall season is a good one for uncommon and rare butterflies!!! The temps were warm today but we're expecting some cooling off tomorrow with strong winds. It was really good to see such a variety of uncommon butterflies because nothing much is blooming around these parts. The brushfoots were attracted to the bait - a good thing elsewise we'd probably never have seen them!!!

~ Cat

A wee little Lantana Scrub Hairstreak.

Great shots as always Cat!! That Band-Celled Sister's coloration is georgeous. We are all winding down so it is only appropriate you get to start a new thread and make us drool. Never got bait mixed up this year....too much online games..lazy.

On the date you mentioned in prior thread... if you had waited about an hour to post it would have been 12-11-10 - 9pm LOL!

Weird numbers when you think of it!!! I didn't even consider the time. FREAKY!!!

Next year, my High School reunion is on 9-10-11!

Great work again Cat to show us those butterflies we don't get up here. So glad to see them.

Ditto, about the beautiful b.flies, Cat. You've got a whole bunch I've never noticed before (if I did see them), on my trips to Texas. What a lovely sight for tired eyes.
Got to run for now. Kids and Critters are hungry!
WIB!
SW

lol @ Sheila for noticing the time!

She's a sly one that, Sheila, and until you pointed it out, Crit, I missed it. LOL! : - )
Honestly, I think the world of her. : - )
Still seeing some cats on the passiflora, and some b.flys in the garden too, but haven't been able to get photos of them. : - (
Will try again tomorrow. Seem to have best fortune with the b.flys in the afternoon, especially if it's sunny and not windy.
Wish me luck! : - )
WIB!~
SW

Wishing you luck on the bf stalking Jules.

I released two Queens yesterday, I hope they get to enjoy life before it gets too cold.

It's raining and due to rain for the next week. I'll need the luck! : - )
Sending a bad photo of the tiny cat. Maybe he's a quarter to 3/8 inches long right now. Did it hatch out of the little egg? Saw the one Gulf frit laying eggs on my sunflowers too. Have left them in place because the Sunflowers provide winter food for some of the finches around here.
One more to send of a bigger cat.

That's so neat about releasing your Queens, frostweed! : - )
This is a bigger cat. Just got to love 'em. Think the others made a crysalis, but haven't found but the one so far. LOL!
Enjoy, and have a wonderful day!
WIB~
SW

I wouldn't think the br laying eggs on the sunflower was a GFrit Jules, they don't us it as a host plant. Perhaps nectaring since things are getting scarce with the cold temps.

This was back when I first saw the Gulf Frit laying eggs on the passiflora, Sheila. The sunflowers were pretty dry already, by then. Maybe it was just resting?
I'll have to go look through my photos, to see if I kept any of them on the dry sunflowers.
Thanks for the info, I can see another passiflora in my yard. LOL! : - )
WIB~
SW

The American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) frequented my garden this past summer and I even had caterpillars on the Pearly Everlasting bush. I would like to share one of the photos of the Lady on the Mistflower (Eupatorium coelestinum).

Bob

Bob, nice photo! Is your Mistflower nursery grown or a volunteer? I had some come up in my yard years ago and I let it stay. I didn't know what species it was and that it was a MD native, I just thought it was pretty. They have changed the scientific name though-

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=coco13

"Eupatorium" I could pronounce but how do you say "Conoclinium coelestinum"?

2gardenkate, I had two plants...one was bought in 2009 from SHOOTING STAR NURSERY and the other was bought in 2010 from SWEET NECTAR. Both of these were the typical "blue" mistflower that is as you see it in the above photo. In addition, I bought one with the scientific name of Eupatorium havanense which has two common names-FRAGRANT MISTFLOWER or SHRUBBY BONESET. It is an attractive white version of the mistflower. In this, it's first year, it bloomed too late...my butterflies were gone. As the folks at Plant Delights say, this does make a nice cutflower for the house! Maybe this year, the blooms and butterflies will get a little better co-ordinated.

I have attached a photo of the Fragrant mistflower.

Bob

Bob, alas, your Eupatorium havanense might not ever bloom in time for the butterflies! I checked its status and, although a native of North America, it seems to call Texas its home.

Lovely, Bob. : - )
Thanks for sharing the photos.
WIB~
SW

I have the Eupatorium havanense also, but find it isn't the draw for butterflies that I would have hoped. Or maybe I just have others more desirable in the area.

OH...to see prettty blooms and butterflies right now...*sigh*

There are many hardships to being self-employed, but one of the bright points is that even in the dead of winter I get to see butterflies. Here are some roosting zebra longwings in the flight cage. I did see a Red Admiral outside today -- the first "official" wild butterfly of the new year for me.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

That is really neat Dale, I have never seen so many together.

sighhhhh,, come on spring!

Great that you can enjoy them even in captivity in the winter months. Makes me wish we had the butterfly exhibit every year.

Winter's closing in again. Ugh! So to take my mind off of it, I thought I'd post a picture from the flight cage today. This little Zebra Longwing caterpillar is preparing to pupate.

Great picture, I wish we got more of them here. Is it really yellow Dale, or is it just the light?

Yeah, I wish we got more up in north Texas, too. No reports of any in 2010, although I did have a Julia Longwing in the yard in November. The Zebra Longwing larvae change color when they get ready to pupate; normally they are a bright white. Here's on on Passiflora biflora.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com

That is what I was wondering...interesting. Lovely passiflora too...I looked up the bloom and was surprised with the dark pink bloom.
Hope your bfs and plants go through the freezes next week without problems. I know you will be busy trying to make sure they do.

Great pics everyone! Work has kept me busy and away from the computer. Got home late and found a Giant Swallowtail and a Guava Skipper had eclosed! So much for hoping the chrysalids would overwinter. It's been cold all day with more to come. Go figure! Warm and sunny on Sunday and now down to the 40's. Hope it warms up tomorrow so I can release them.

Now I'll be wary....I have another Guava, two Black Swallowtails, a Mesquite moth, four Forbes Silkmoths and a couple of Polyphemus I'm still babysitting :o)

~ Cat

Ps...really enjoyed those roosting Zebras!!!

This message was edited Jan 11, 2011 11:02 PM

Arggggh!!! I typed too soon - when I got up this morning I found another Guava Skipper and a Forbes Silkmoth had eclosed. It's 45 degrees outside and no sun in sight! The news is forecasting warmth for Saturday - am keeping them indoors and using the old nectar on a cottonball and q-tip feeding method. Hope they survive.

As for the female Forbes Silkmoth - since they don't feed am going to set it outside tonight for a couple of hours to see if it calls to a mate. If so, I'll bring them her and her romeo inside.

~ Cat

We had a warm 59 degree day and I guess a question mark emerged somewhere. DH found it sunning itself on a tree. Ahhh a promise of spring.

I want one!! lol

Sheila: I love warm winter days when we get to see these hibernating adults come out for a quick fly-around. You can be sure he's hunkered down in some protected spot today!

Here's a Common Buckeye that I shot in my flight cage today. I've been rearing these guys all winter (along with some other species). This is form "rosa" -- notice the reddish cast to the ventral surface of the wings -- which appears in late Fall.

Dale Clark
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
www.dallasbutterflies.com